iSTART-E: Reading Comprehension Strategy Training for Spanish Speakers

Interactive Strategy Training for Active Reading and Thinking en Español, or iSTART-E, is a new intelligent tutoring system (ITS) that provides reading comprehension strategy training for Spanish speakers. This paper reports on studies evaluating the efficacy of iSTART-E in real-world classrooms in two different Spanish-speaking countries. In Study 1, Chilean high school students (n = 22) who practiced with iSTART-E showed significant gains on a standardized comprehension assessment (LECTUM) from pretest to posttest. In Study 2 (n = 85), Argentinian middle school students who practiced with iSTART-E showed greater gains on the ECOMPLEC.Sec comprehension test compared to those in control classrooms. Together these results suggest that iSTART-E is an effective means of enhancing Spanish speakers' reading comprehension, with demonstrated transfer of training to standardized reading tests. [This paper was published in: "Artificial Intelligence in Education. AIED 2018, LNAI 10948," edited by C. Penstein Rosé et al., Springer International Publishing AG, 2018, pp. 215-19.]